Tech Today w/ Ken May

The doppelgänger Facebook profile scraped from WBAL producer Chris Dachille convinced many of his friends that it was actually him—and then spammed them with requests for money and malicious links. WBAL Reporters and producers at a television station in Baltimore recently found out the hard way that they shouldn’t blindly accept Facebook friend requests. Last month, they found that their profiles had been cloned by an attacker who quickly used their network of friends to spread malicious links and ask for money. Attacks on media organizations’ social media accounts have been at an all-time high this past year, including “hacktivist” and state-sponsored attacks on media outlets from the Syrian Electronic Army. But the attack on the staff of WBAL-TV was directed toward staff members’ personal accounts. And this initiative was a more workaday one, less targeted at the station itself than the friends, co-workers, and viewers who were connected to the cloned accounts. Because some of WBAL’s staff members mixed their personal and professional social networking together, the attack gave the scammer access to a huge audience’s Facebook news feeds. After the attack was discovered, it took weeks for Facebook to shut down the fake accounts. Read 12 remaining paragraphs | Comments        

wiredmikey writes “A new Windows kernel zero-day vulnerability is being exploited in targeted attacks against Windows XP users. Microsoft confirmed the issue and published a security advisory to acknowledge the flaw after anti-malware vendor FireEye warned that the Windows bug is being used in conjunction with an Adobe Reader exploit to infect Windows machines with malware. Microsoft described the issue as an elevation of privilege vulnerability that allows an attacker to run arbitrary code in kernel mode. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full administrative rights.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Creative Commons has released version 4.0 of its sharing-friendly, easy-to-use copyright licenses . The new licenses represent a significant improvement over earlier versions. They work in over 60 jurisdictions out of the box, without having to choose different versions depending on which country you’re in; they’re more clearly worded; they eliminate confusion over jurisdiction-specific rights like the European database right and moral rights. They clarify how license users are meant to attribute the works they use; provide for anonymity in license use; and give license users a 30 day window to correct violations, making enforcement simpler. Amazingly, they’re also shorter than the previous licenses, and easier to read, to boot. 30-day window to correct license violations All CC licenses terminate when a licensee breaks their terms, but under 4.0, a licensee’s rights are reinstated automatically if she corrects a breach within 30 days of discovering it. The cure period in version 4.0 resembles similar provisions in a some other public licenses and better reflects how licensors and licensees resolve compliance issues in practice. It also assures users that provided they act promptly, they can continue using the CC-licensed work without worry that they may have lost their rights permanently. Increased readability The 4.0 license suite is decidedly easier to read and understand than prior versions, not to mention much shorter and better organized. The simplified license structure and use of plain language whenever possible increases the likelihood that licensors and reusers will understand their rights and obligations. This improves enforceability of the licenses and reduces confusion and disagreement about how the licenses operate. Clarity about adaptations The BY and BY-NC 4.0 licenses are clearer about how adaptations are to be licensed, a source of confusion for some under the earlier versions of those licenses. These licenses now clarify that you can apply any license to your contributions you want so long as your license doesn’t prevent users of the remix from complying with the original license. While this is how 3.0 and earlier versions are understood, the 4.0 licenses make it abundantly clear and will help remixers in understanding their licensing obligations. What’s New in 4.0        

In 2005, scientists found some soft tissue in the fossilized leg of Tyrannosaurus Rex. Now, they can confirm that, yes, that is T. Rex collagen. What’s more, there’s preserved collagen in lots of other T. Rex fossil specimens. How’d it survive? Stephanie Pappas at NBC News explains .        

The U.S. Army Research Office has just thrown some money the way of 4D printing —but what, exactly, is all the fuss about? This beautiful video goes a long way to showing us why the technology is so exciting. Read more…        

Today I found out that during the height of the Cold War, the US military put such an emphasis on a rapid response to an attack on American soil, that to minimize any foreseeable delay in launching a nuclear missile, for nearly two decades they intentionally set the launch codes at every silo in the US to 8 zeroes. Read more…        

Some shipwrecks are too costly or dangerous for humans to explore, but many underwater robots are too disruptive and unwieldy to serve as substitutes. The Tallinn Institute of Technology’s new U-CAT mapping robot solves that dilemma by imitating one of the ocean’s more graceful creatures: the sea turtle . The small machine uses flippers to get around instead of propellers, preventing it from kicking up silt (which would obscure its camera) and letting it turn on a dime. It’s also autonomous, which helps it venture deep into a wreck without worrying about cables. You’ll only likely see U-CAT in person if you swing by the London Science Museum between November 28th and December 1st. However, it’s likely to have a big impact on underwater archaeology. It will eventually map shipwrecks in the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas as part of the EU’s ARROWS Project , providing more detail than any diver could manage. [Image credit: Tallin University of Technology, Flickr ] Filed under: Robots , Science Comments Gizmag Source: Tallinn University of Technology , ARROWS Project

Android: If you suspect your roommate or anyone else has been reading your private messages on your phone, then PeeperPeeper can catch them red-handed. The app creates fake shortcuts for popular messaging apps and takes a photo when someone opens them. Read more…        

Researchers from MIT have developed a camera that can take pictures in almost total darkness . It works by mathematically reconstructing 3D images from single photons reflected from dimly lit objects. The achievement could result in stealthy spy cameras, or treat eyes that are easily damaged by excess light. Read more…        

Rambo Tribble writes “The BBC reports that the U. S. government has agreed to pay software maker Apptricity $50 million to settle claims that the U.S. Army pirated thousands of copies of the firm’s provisioning software. The report indicates 500 licensed copies were sold, but it came to light an army official had mentioned that ‘thousands’ of devices were running the software.” $50 million in tax money could have paid for a whole lot of open source software development, instead. Read more of this story at Slashdot.